Name: The Only Survivor
Rating: PG-13 for romance between mechanical beings, implied wartime atrocity
Wordcount: 1,197 words
Pairing: KupxBluestreak
Author's Notes: This is just a little drabble I wrote for Ironical Jester. I usually pair Bluestreak with Mirage, but I'm a total fag for old/young pairings, and I have a soft spot for Kup. I am told this is tooth-achingingly sweet. You were warned.
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Kup was deep in recharge when a loud pounding on his door shattered the silence of his quarters. He awoke with a start, his first reflex being to grab his rifle and shoot the sorry frag out of whoever was attacking - but then his higher functions booted up, and he wiped at his face with one hand and barked, "I'm coming!" He swung his legs off the berth and stood, swaying slightly as his equilibrium processor took a fraction of a nano-klik too long to recalibrate so soon after coming out of recharge.
The door opened to reveal Bluestreak, arms wrapped around himself. He tried to reform the terrified expression on his faceplates, but not fast enough - Kup saw.
"Bluestreak? What's wrong..?"
"N-nothing!" Bluestreak said, a little too quickly, a little too nervously. "I... I was just... ...can I come in?"
"Hm? Oh, sure y'can..."
Kup stood back to let Bluestreak in and shut the door, sitting down on the berth and patting the spot next to him, inviting the young Autobot to sit down beside him. Bluestreak did so eagerly, unwrapping his arms from himself to twist his hands nervously in his lap. "I j-just... couldn't sleep, I guess I might've refueled a little too late in the cycle maybe or something. And I missed you, Kup.."
Bluestreak looked up at the older mech, optics wide, innocent and sincere, and Kup's fuel pump skipped a beat. But he'd seen the look of fear that Bluestreak had tried to hide, and he wasn't fooled. It took a damn sight more than this to fool Kup.
"Bluestreak, what're you hidin'?" Kup replied, studying Bluestreak's face intently. Bluestreak faltered a little.
"N-nothing, I mean it, I did miss you..."
Bluestreak leaned in against Kup's arm, insistently snuggling under it and pulling it around him. Kup couldn't complain, not at that. But then the young gunner reached up and put his hand on Kup's face, guided him in quickly and determinedly for a kiss. For a moment, Kup melted against his younger lover, optics flickering slightly as Bluestreak moved his lips shyly, softly, warmly against his own, but then he put his hand on Bluestreak's shoulder and firmly pushed him away, ignoring the noise of protest that issued from the gunner's vocaliser.
"Blue, don't you think you can fool me. I know something's up with you and I know you ain't tellin' me. And I'd appreciate it if you would, and snappish!"
Bluestreak cringed, and Kup immediately felt sorry. "Blue..."
The gunner's optics were wide and upset, and Kup was about to try and comfort him again when Bluestreak spoke.
"I-I..." he whimpered softly and buried his face against Kup's chestplate. "I h-had a nightmare..."
Kup sighed and rubbed Bluestreak's back with one hand, drawing him in closer. Nevermind that his lips were still tingling from the kiss - Bluestreak was more important.
"Shh, don't you worry about it, you're safe now, you're with me..." the older Autobot muttered, holding Bluestreak snug and warm against his plating. Bluestreak's doorwings trembled and he clenched one hand against Kup's chest.
"I-I... It was the s-same one..."
Bluestreak's recurring nightmare, the one he had at least once every earth week - and more if he was stressed or worried - in which he relived the raid he'd survived back on Cybertron in painfully accurate detail. Kup had heard the descriptions a thousand times - and he listened to it just as intently as the first time as Bluestreak stuttered out the horrors he'd suffered. Kup held the young gunner close against his chestplate and rocked him just slightly. The savage barbarity that Bluestreak presented him with reminded the old soldier of a thousand such atrocities he'd witnessed first-hand himself, and it filled him with melancholy. When Bluestreak finally finished and collapsed into sobs that he tried halfsparkedly to repress, Kup was ready with the extra support in his arms and he all but held Bluestreak up, quietly hushing him. Kup wasn't a demonstrative sort of mech, and he was certainly no femme - an awkward comforter at best - but he did his best for Bluestreak, and it was enough. Gradually the sobs ceased and Bluestreak regained control over his vocaliser.
"...M'sorry," he managed, face still pressed to Kup's chest. The other mech snorted dismissively.
"Don't you go apologisin' to me, Blue. There ain't nothin' you've done wrong, nothin' at all, and don't you start thinkin' otherwise!"
Bluestreak nodded and wrapped an arm around Kup's waist, taking comfort in the older mech and snuggling up close. "...Kup?"
"Hm?"
"C-can..." Bluestreak took a moment to reset his vocaliser as it threatened to hitch again. "...can I rech-charge with you this cycle..? Please?"
Kup's fingers found the edge of Bluestreak's chevron and the older Autobot stroked it gently to soothe Bluestreak, who obligingly relaxed somewhat into his arms.
"Course y'can," Kup muttered, not knowing how to voice the other things, like how much he cared for Bluestreak, how he understood, at least in part, what the young gunner had been through, how he only wanted to see Bluestreak happy and how he'd do anything in his power to see that through. Instead, he managed to mutter gruffly, "It ain't right that a mech as young as you should've seen all that..."
Bluestreak only whimpered and pressed closer, tugging Kup down to try and persuade him to lie back on the berth. Kup obliged and Bluestreak immediately cuddled up close, purring happily when Kup's arms wrapped tightly around him, saying with gestures what he couldn't say in words. Being around Kup made Bluestreak feel completely safe - he wasn't afraid of the Decepticons when he was with Kup, because the old mech was a veteran of so many fights and he'd always come out on top, so Bluestreak knew he could protect him. He knew Kup was brave and wasn't frightened of the enemy, and in turn Bluestreak took courage from that.
"But I'm safe with you, Kup, aren't I...?" he murmured into his lover's chestplate, and shivered when Kup began to stroke one of his doorwings with the flat of a hand.
"Course you are," Kup replied immediately, and Bluestreak purred and nuzzled him. Kup's spark melted a little. "Don't you worry, Blue," he reassured. "Those filthy 'Cons won't get the better of me." He said it with absolute confidence because it had been born out time and time again by experience. Kup was one of the few mechs who could say that without a trace of a lie.
It touched Bluestreak. The gunner trembled, a shiver in his doorwings, and pushed himself up on his elbow. Kup's optics were dark, offline, and Bluestreak leaned down to press a warm, adoring kiss to his lover's mouth. Kup's optics flickered slightly in surprise and then settled offline again as he returned the kiss, brushing his glossa against Bluestreak's lips which the young Autobot immediately and willingly parted with a soft whimper. Eventually they broke apart and Bluestreak settled his head on Kup's shoulder. "Thanks," he murmured, and fell silent. He didn't need to hide behind words or pretend any more, not here.